Hi,
I have now been training him in the park where there are other dogs in the area for about a month. He is more focused on his ball rather than other dogs, so his head will turn but will continue to work for his ball. This is where he is up to with his distraction training. If he breaks his sit or stay i will take him back to where he was and put him back in the position. He can down and stay for just over 1 minute at the moment, but he does struggle with that, he is really eager. How would you teach him to hold the position longer.

Many Thanks
Brian

The park with all the activity may just be too much for him yet. Way too high of distractions at one time. I'd take him further over to a cornor where his is in a lkess distractive place & practice there. SLOWLY. Until he can sit there for at least 5 minutes I would not move him an closer to the action. I also would move closer at about 1 foot at a time. He should be able to sit there for at least 5 minutes in a very relaxsed state before I move on.

And yes, I would put him back to where he was told to sit or down if he moves & start over. He only gets rewarded with the ball for staying where you put him.

Move very slowly...rushing will accomplish nothing.

It takes lots of time, patience & practice to get dogs sold in very hugh traffic areas. Other dogs are a very BIG distraction.

If you are using marker training...you need to add duration to your command to extend that time he stays in a sit or down with a duration marker.

You can use the ball as a reward but his focus should be on you, in my opinion.

I expect my mutts to stay where they are placed until I release them. A minute is the beginning of training.

You teach him to hold the position by putting him in the place you want, give him a command like sit or down, and have him stay in that position until you release him. When he moves before release, gently put him back in the place, and give him the command again, and again, and again. Start out with a minute, then two, then three, etc. He can't move without a release. Takes time and eventually he will get the release command is his license to move. Then repeat. Etc.

Profuse rewarding with success.

Then he gets to play with his ball.

Others will give better advice and technique tips.

Thanks Mike
I have now started trying to extend the stay by having him down and moving away telling him good boy and going back every now and then and giving him a treat and he will continue to do this for just over two minutes, or until i stop treating and then get up to do what he wants. You right, i want him to do it for me, not just treats or toys. This is the hard bit.

This is in the house, he wont work for treats on the field, just toys, he has no interest in food once he is out.

You need to have him 100% in a zero distraction area before adding distractions , can he hold a down in your living room for say 5, 10, 15, 20 minuets without distractions?



Like Anne says the park is probably way to much to soon, to many distractions and competing motivates for success.


How about in the house holding a down with distractions like walking around him, tapping your foot near him, stepping over him, jump over him, bounce the ball near him, right next to him, between his legs, toss the ball in front of him, run away from him, will he still hold a down with smaller distractions like this vs other dogs in a park?

Then if he holds the down in the house or garage with all the crazy things you can come up to tempt him to move then you could move to say your porch or front yard, that will have new distractions, slowly add duration and distraction.

Have you worked on just eye contact focus with a release command where the dog keeps eye contact with you until you release him?

Once again done in zero distraction and slowly adding duration and distraction.

By the bye, MC or MU? I was for Chelsea until the manager change. And as a Yank, I should be for Liverpool.

Back to the topic at hand. I agree with the others. However, because I have a few dogs, or so it seems, when I begin to work with a new one, I find working with all the dogs is a quick way to get the new one tuned in. It witnesses the behavior of the others and, in my opinion, seems to 'get it' quicker than the one on one stuff.

As with all commands, the object has to be for the dog to in the first instance focus on you. You cue the dog, command it and it responds to the specific command with focus on you.

The cue could be 'hey' or 'ahem' or 'cabbage' but it should be some vocal or physical cue that refocuses the dog on you and sets the stage for a command compliance, if the dog isn't already focusing on you.

You and the dog have to be on the same page. It should want to be with you, play with you, hang around with you more than just about any thing else. Perhaps an over simplification but focus recognizes the nature of the dog to be tempted by things and changes its wants list to have you at the head of it.

That comes with enthusiastic praise that the dog wants to receive. And a treat or two or whatever reward system you want. I like toys. Usually after a little work we have a toss, get, bring, tug, out, and repeat. The dog should want to 'work' with you because the rewards far out strip any 'correction.'

I sit a dog. And wander around. I turn and call the dog, it comes, sits, and praise. The dog doesn't know the praise is for staying, and coming, and sitting. It just knows if it follows my cues what will follow is fun. It is important to note that if you are frustrated, it will be a bad training session.

I down a dog and then step over it side to side, back to front. The dog remains placed and the praise is extravagant.

Fernando Torres is my current favorite player in the EPL.

 Quote:

I have now started trying to extend the stay by having him down and moving away telling him good boy and going back every now and then and giving him a treat and he will continue to do this for just over two minutes, or until i stop treating and then get up to do what he wants. You right, i want him to do it for me, not just treats or toys. This is the hard bit

Make sure you release him before he gets up. He needs a beginning and a clear end. If he's getting up whenever he wants, thats too random. Stay close for now until you've clearly taught him what that release means.

if the dog is not 100% focused on you, you are too close to the distraction.

You need to start at phase 1 here....which is training with no distractions...as others have pointed out.

Once the command is mastered, then you throw in LOW LEVEL distractions, once the command is mastered with low level you move it up a notch and so on and so on.

If you're in the park with dogs and he's paying attention to them...even for a few seconds...you're too close to the distraction. Move back and away from the distraction till you're at a point where he is 100% interested in you and what you're doing and 0% interested in the other dogs.

Have you thought about keeping a leash on him inside so that when the door bell does ring and he goes into his crazy act you at least have something that you can grab onto to control him in that situation. I don't see anyone mention that and i personally think it's a great tool. If he's on a leash and that leash is in your hand or under your foot he isn't going to be able to jump around or lunge etc etc.
I think I saw you post that he will get grumbly if you try to put him in the crate when people come over?
Do you grab him by his collar or just try to corall him in there?
Again...if he's on a leash you have a way to get him to the crate without having to put your hands on him.

start slow....its the only way really.

Wendy, you covered so many critical points .....

"I have now started trying to extend the stay by having him down and moving away telling him good boy and going back every now and then and giving him a treat and he will continue to do this for just over two minutes, or until i stop treating and then get up to do what he wants."

You are moving too fast, IMHO.

That is, I might lengthen the time before the next reward, then randomize the time, and so on.

Walking away is another very gradual step, done similarly with gradual (and then random) time. (See Steve's post.)


PS

Brian, "the focus should be on you" (IMHO) does not mean "i want him to do it for me, not just treats or toys." Don't worry about that right now ..... JMO.

If you read Wendy's post just above this one, you'll see how you need to start with zero distractions, and duration is added very gradually. The focus can be on you if there are no distractions to start with and distractions are added in very very gradually (as Wendy describes). Have you done a focus (or "look") command?

 Quote: Wendy Lefebvre

.... Have you thought about keeping a leash on him inside so that when the door bell does ring and he goes into his crazy act you at least have something that you can grab onto to control him in that situation. I don't see anyone mention that and i personally think it's a great tool. If he's on a leash and that leash is in your hand or under your foot he isn't going to be able to jump around or lunge etc etc.
I think I saw you post that he will get grumbly if you try to put him in the crate when people come over?
Do you grab him by his collar or just try to corall him in there?
Again...if he's on a leash you have a way to get him to the crate without having to put your hands on him.

I have drag lines all over the house when I have a new or untrained dog. I don't know how I didn't say this immediately.